Meal delivery cart

a technology for delivering carts and meals, applied in the direction of hand carts, transportation and packaging, service system furniture, etc., can solve the problems of requiring staffing redundancies, exacerbated difficulty in providing meals for inhabitants, and high maintenance costs

Inactive Publication Date: 2004-01-06
COUNTY OF ALAMEDA THE A POLITICAL SUBDIV OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The greatly increased physical size of prison facilities and the unprecedented increase in the number of inmates housed in them has created many new challenges, including how to provide a large number of persons with proper daily meals reliably.
In these facilities, the difficulty of providing meals for the inhabitants is exacerbated.
Such a one-kitchen-for-each-unit configuration presents unique logistical problems, requires staffing redundancies, and is very expensive to maintain.
Indeed, new construction of facilities incorporating a kitchen in each separate housing unit can be prohibitively expensive.
Expense notwithstanding, it is an undesirable inefficiency.
Any delays between cooking and service allow the hot portions of prepared meals to cool, the cool portions to warm, and the entire meal to become stale, posing a potentially serious health risk.
Prior art meal delivery carts suffer numerous disadvantages, including being very heavy, each weighing as much as 3,500 pounds empty.
They are difficult to maneuver and experience frequent, expensive breakdowns.
Cleaning the carts with water damages the heating elements and the compressor.
Numerous moving parts create a litany of maintenance issues.
For example, outwardly swinging doors require frequent repair.
Accumulated mechanical problems associated with prior ar

Method used

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Examples

Experimental program
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Embodiment Construction

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an improved meal delivery system according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a meal delivery cart according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the meal delivery cart depicted in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the meal delivery cart depicted in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the enclosure of the meal delivery cart depicted in FIG. 2, taken along lines 5--5.

FIG. 6A is a sectional view of the doors to the meal delivery cart of FIG. 5, taken along lines 6--6, showing the doors in closed position.

FIG. 6B is a sectional view of the doors to the meal delivery cart of FIG. 5, taken along lines 6--6, showing one door in open position and the other in closed position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the meal delivery cart of FIG. 2 showing the bottom surface of the cart.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

In accordance with the invention, an improved meal delivery system is generally shown in FIG. 1. A plural...

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PUM

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Abstract

An improved meal delivery system and a method for delivery of pre-cooked, chilled meals from a central distribution station to a plurality of remote locations in cooperation with an Automatic Guided Vehicle system, and in particular a one-piece, molded, insulated meal-delivery cart for transportation of chilled meals.

Description

1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates to an improved meal delivery system and to a method for delivery of pre-cooked, chilled meals from a central distribution station to a plurality of remote locations, and in particular to a one-piece, molded, insulated meal delivery cart for transportation of chilled meals in cooperation with an Automatic Guided Vehicle (henceforth "AGV") system.2. Prior ArtOur population continues to increase and age at a rapid rate. Many people are now confined in, cared for, or work in large institutions and government-sponsored operations, such as prison facilities, mental health facilities, hospitals, and military bases. One notable demographic trend is a marked increase in the number and size of prison facilities in the last twenty years. The greatly increased physical size of prison facilities and the unprecedented increase in the number of inmates housed in them has created many new challenges, including how to provide a large number of persons ...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): A47F10/00A47F10/06B62B5/00
CPCA47F10/06B62B5/0063B62B2202/90B62B2204/02B62B2204/04B62B2204/06
Inventor HOFHEINS, LEONARD L.THORNOCK, DEL M.SHIKANY, LOU
Owner COUNTY OF ALAMEDA THE A POLITICAL SUBDIV OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
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